'People think dancing around trees is easy. It's not'

'The past one year has been a whirlwind for me.'
'Professionally, it couldn't get any better.'
'Sadly, it was also the year I lost my father.'

Raveena Tandon feels she is in a dream.

"I woke up to the news that I have been awarded the Padma Shri by the government. I felt all my years of hard work has finally come to fruition. I can't wait to get back to Mumbai," she tells Subhash K Jha.

Raveena is attending a wedding in Bhopal.

"My husband (film distributor Anil Thadani), who is in Mumbai, had no clue about it. I had to inform him that his wife is now Padma Shri Raveena," she laughs heartily.

Raveena tells us who she dedicates her Padma Shri to in this video:

She then grows melancholic.

"The past one year has been a whirlwind for me. Professionally, it couldn't get any better. My Web series Aranyak on Netflix and then the big screen blockbuster KGF 2, where I played one of the protagonists, became huge successes.

"Sadly, it was also the year I lost my father (producer-director Ravi Tandon). It was the severest blow of my life. I am still processing the loss. The Padma Shri would have made my dad so proud."

Remind her that she is still young and already a Padma winner and Raveena expresses her happiness: "I guess I am lucky to have received the honour at the midpoint of my life and career. I am also very happy that M M Keeravaani sir has received the Padma Shri. His Naatu Naatu has the world dancing to his tune. But even before Naatu Naatu, he has done such exemplary work."

Raveena gets nostalgic: "I started working when I was 17. I have done every kind of cinema, balancing out a Chote Miyan Bade Miya with a Shool, a Rakshak with a Ghulam-e-Mustafa, a Bulundi and a Khauff with a Daman and an Aks.

"It's always been my endeavour to be be seen in escapism and real cinema. Some people think dancing around trees and doing the masala stuff is easy. It is not. In fact, being real on screen is far easier."

Raveena feels the good days are back in the entertainment industry.

"I saw Pathaan and whistled and clapped the loudest. It is an out-and-out mass entertainer and bound to revive the sagging fortunes of our industry. While the Padma Shri is a personal triumph, the success of Pathaan is a happy occasion for the entire industry. So yeah, I am on top of the world,”

Raveena's fans would like to know her khubsoorati ka raaz. "It's nothing more than sleeping and eating right. I have only organic food. More importantly, I am happy and secure in life. If you are content within, it is bound to show on your face."